Toulouse spent another campaign fighting against relegation, finishing one point and two places better off than they did 12 months ago, when they needed a playoff to secure their Ligue 1 status.
Alain Casanova was brought back to the club last summer as head coach and reinstated the pragmatic football that had helped him to succeeded – relatively speaking – with the team previously. The net result was adequate but a lack of excitement combined with poor home form for much of the campaign means that winning the home support over remains elusive.
TFC had seemed to have made positive steps to improving their attack last summer but they ended up scoring only 35 goals – the fewest they have managed since they returned to the top flight around 15 years ago.
Offensively, Toulouse were utterly reliant on Max Gradel. When he was not on form, they struggled badly. Others should have been capable of contributing more, with centre forward Aaron Leya Iseka and Yaya Sanogo not coming up to scratch. Winger Mathieu Dossevi was also capable of better.
In the midfield, there were too many non-performers. Manu Garcia only impressed fleetingly, having arrived on loan from Manchester City, while Jimmy Durmaz finished the season excellently but had not played like that for the eight previous months.
One man who did have a very good season was Ibrahima Sangare, whose defensive contribution was immense. He is set for a big summer move.
Even at the back, the area of the squad where Casanova should have excelled in fixing, Toulouse were not impressive. Indeed, they had to switch shape midway through the season, finishing with three centre-backs, as they struggled so much.
Christopher Jullien had an especially bad start to the season, making numerous silly errors. He did tighten up in the second half of the campaign but was not his usual force from offensive set pieces. Meanwhile, the arrival of Gen Shoji in January was important.
Even in goal, Toulouse did not find any great solidarity, with Casanova unclear whether Mauro Goicoechea or Baptiste Reynet would be first choice.
Once again, TFC are faced with the prospect of a busy summer to confront numerous problems.
